Danelle Winfield is currently the Senior Director of Game Operations, Entertainment & Promotions for the Los Angeles Sparks, and one of five people on the Leadership Committee. In a nutshell, Danelle is in charge of creating an engaging game atmosphere for fans and home-court advantage for the Players.
I first met Billy Kong in 2018 when we both worked backstage for a vehicle stunt show in Macau. Even back then it was clear that Billy was a gifted entertainer. He had a quiet dignity and charisma about him and he persisted in finding the time to do magic tricks no matter how busy we got. Billy’s dream was to one day work full-time as a magician. Now, two years later, his persistence and hard work have led him on stage…
Gail Malatesta is a US American stage manager with 30 years of experience. She has worked for a plethora of theatres over the years. During the last 10 years also for large corporations such as Universal Studios, Disney, and Royal Caribbean. We went on a trip down memory lane and chatted about a couple of Gail’s very first experiences in the entertainment industry…
From 2011 to 2013, I studied Theatre, Stage & Events Management at the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts. Never would I have expected my graduation from the Academy in August 2013 to turn out to be a mini-revolution. As one of only very few foreigners who graduated that day, I was at a loss and could only try to do my best to be respectful and not get in the way.
From hobby technician and DJ in the clubs of his youth, Sacha Savenkoff’s journey to Technical Director led him through theme parks, ice skating shows, to cruise ships. His first contract was with MSC. Then, in 2010, Sacha began working as a lighting technician for Royal Caribbean. In this final part of our interview find out how Sacha kept growing towards Technical Director…
Recently, Sacha Savenkoff and I met for a fascinating interview. So interesting, in fact, that we couldn’t stop talking and, instead of this being just one article, it ended up being a story in 3 parts. Sacha Savenkoff’s Journey to Technical Director started with one of the most natural things for any teenager: an interest in parties. In Part 1 of his life story, Sacha tells us what initially developed from that…
Unfortunately, most actors treat their work as a hobby. They may be deeply invested, like a-basement-worth-of-model-trains invested, but are ultimately still never taking the next step to making their work an actual career.
Circus has been Vladimir Antosik’s life. He has been a steady presence in the business for forty years – since 1980. His work and passion was only once interrupted – just recently, by the closing of shows due to Covid19. Afterwards, his show life is bound to continue. During our chat, Vladimir remembers how it all began…
Billy Sy is an actor and, since a couple years ago, also a lecturer at the Hong Kong Academy of Performing Arts’s School of Drama. As an actor, Billy has enjoyed a successful career in Hong Kong, working with both local and international productions. In this interview, he speaks with us about his passions, the unique Hong Kong theatre world, as well as the current state of affairs.
Theater and show practitioners, performers and technicians alike, acquire an abundance of valuable skills over the years. These skills help us master difficult shows and creations. They help us think on our feet. They help us succeed on a daily basis in an ever-changing environment. Often, however, we underestimate how much we know. And, how transferrable and useful many of our skills are.
Acrobat Lionel Zalachas remembers Le Rêve. His odyssey begins in 2009, when he is hired for the creation of The House of Dancing Water and first dives into the aquatic show universe of Franco Dragone. Everyone talks about Le Rêve, the legend in Las Vegas. It seems unreal, far away. Then, five years later, he is hired to perform in Le Rêve. The legend, the dream is becoming a reality. Here is Lionel’s story…
Early on, Charly Ortega found himself working for shows that were brought to life in collaboration with large corporations. He was fascinated by the challenges these business partnerships presented in his daily work as a stage manager. And, he decided to specialize in navigating these unique environments.
Isaac Lee is a young international artist of Korean descent. He was born in 1997. I first met him when he was 16 years old. Even then, he inspired me. Isaac dreams big. Yet, I believe, over the coming years he will show us what can happen when dreams meet brilliance and a strong work ethic.
The Zurich Film Festival is an annual event which premiered in the summer of 2005. Since then this film festival has grown in size every year and has won much international acclaim. We were lucky to get an interview with the festival’s head of film coordination, Aurel Graf.
Abigail Yeates is an artistic director who has worked with The Generating Company and Stufish. In 2018, she directed the electrical vehicle stunt show ELĒKRŎN in Macau. Currently, Abigail works with the Centre du Creation in South West France. At the same time, she is also producing shows with Anystage Creative.
Jan Freese is a charismatic, successful (and I dare say brilliant) set designer from Berlin, Germany. Over the years, he has worked internationally for theater and opera with directors in Berlin, Vienna, and Zurich. Over the last few years, he has also started to work for the opera in Paris.
In January 2020, Dom Rye, a theatre performer from the UK, went to join Sleep No More, an immersive theatre show in Shanghai. Only a couple months later, his experience was cut short by the outbreak of Covid19. Albeit short, Dom’s experiences in Shanghai were enriching and something he will never forget.
This year brought drastic changes to the curriculum of theater academies around the world. The physical component, so essential for the performing arts, was eliminated. What can replace the profound presence of a physical performance? More emphasis on language? Solo performances? The integration of masks in some shape or form? Or digital projections?
With ongoing uncertainty surrounding the entertainment industry around the world, people are changing the way in which they work through Covid-19.
One of our core beliefs with Artist’s Strategy is to not take the work personally. We must be able to separate the very personal and intimate aspects of our creative work, and the cold hard business principles that will ensure our art will thrive.
With graduation season upon us, the Class of 2020 is preparing for graduations in their homes. Through these difficult circumstances, graduating from college is an amazing accomplishment that deserves recognition. It has been a year since I have graduated school, and through this year I have learned many skills college doesn’t teach you.
I cannot think of an interview or first time meeting with someone when we are not asked about experiences or situations that stand out amongst our journey through work. The odd thing about this is when you are asked this question at the age of 20, because clearly your experience of education, front of house work, crewing backstage or even touring with a band will be short lived and probably not gained any true value yet for what may be to come.
I’ve now been off work (per say) for a month. The last day of the last project I worked on was February 29th. This was by design – I wanted to take March to take stock and work on some personal projects, initially with the idea that I’d pick up more work from April onwards. That clearly isn’t happening.
When there isn’t a show to stage manage, what is a stage manager to do? It’s a great time for professional development. A time to reflect, review, and renew. As I’m sitting in my apartment in New York, I’ve been thinking about this and put together a list of my top 5 books for stage managers that focus on the leadership attributes so important to our profession.
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